


sentence starters

by deartomhardy



Category: Peaky Blinders (TV), Taboo (TV 2017)
Genre: Attempted Sexual Assault, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff, I'll add more onto the tags once I start posting more blurbs
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-07
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2020-01-06 08:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18385019
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deartomhardy/pseuds/deartomhardy
Summary: I had my followers & friends request me some sentence starters on my tumblr a few weeks ago and figured I'd post them here as well. I'll be posting about 14 blurbs here and will be adding more as time goes.





	1. "you said my name in your sleep" [james delaney]

**Author's Note:**

> Please take note of the tags, as I will be adding more onto them once I get to posting a few more sentence starters.  
> I appreciate all kinds of feedback, and love you all very dearly. Enjoy xx

Ever since he was a child, James had never known love. Whether it was from his secretive father, his unstable mother or his half-sister. He knew lust, he knew pure animalistic desire; Whether it was to fuck or kill. He knew how the world operated and whatever sliver of hope he had clinging to his heart, disappeared when he got sent away to Africa.

He left as James Delaney and came back as someone completely different. He looked the same, sure, and he talked the same but his mindset had shifted and his eyes had been opened. The African Devil, they called him.

Anyone knew not to get close to him, any proper lady would cross the street if they saw him coming and get as far away from him as possible. One would think it made it difficult for him, but he managed to live his life without physical contact and if his craving for touch got too bad; He’d find the best one at whatever brothel up the street.

He’d managed to live on as usual, haunted by the nightmares of his mother drowning him as an infant, his father’s lying mug appearing whenever he closed his eyes and even the cold expression on his sister’s face. The nightmares stopped, however, when you entered the picture.

You’d been soft, quiet and feeding his horse when he’d first seen you. Your frame was swallowed by long skirts and a ridiulous hat too big for your head. He’d side eyed you at first, watching you in silence as you stretched an open palm towards the animal’s muzzle. Something in him had stirred as your painted lips broke into a smile, a giggle escaping them as you tilted your head so the sunlight could catch your face; Murmuring something quietly to the horse as you pet its crest and forehead.

Your smile hadn’t faltered when you’d finally caught sight of his still form a few feet away, but he saw the curious tilt of your eyebrows and the way your happy smile turned shy; Embarrassed of being caught.

James knew he was doomed after that day, mesmerized by the way you talked and giggled behind the palm of your hand. Enchanted with the way the sun seemed to catch the colour of your eyes perfectly, making them shine more than he ever thought was possible.

His favourite part though, was when he’d find you nestled into his side late at night, buried deep beneath the blankets you had a tendency to hoard. He’d watch the rise and fall of your chest, and the way your eyes would flicker behind your eyelids as you dreamt. It was hard to figure out what you were dreaming of, but he loved to lay there in the darkness and fantasize about you dreaming of him. His fingers would find your soft skin and trace every beauty mark and every scar, feel as your arms pebbled in goosebumps. The softness of your hair was his favourite spot to bury his face in, revelling in the scent and warmth of  _you._ He couldn’t get enough.

There was one particular night where you’d nodded off to sleep as you watched him read. He hadn’t even realized you were gone until your small puffs of breaths invaded the otherwise quiet room, drawing his attention from his book to your sleeping form by his side. Your hands were folded beneath your head, cradlling your cheek and he couldn’t keep himself from stretching a hand out, the pads of his fingertips touching the apple of your cheek.

It hadn’t taken him long to blow out the only candle by his nightstand, scooting his body beneath the blankets and making himself comfortable with his pillow propped up. Because he knew, he knew that soon your body would automatically mould into his side and he was more than happy to stay up the rest of the night, watching you sleep and murmur unintelligble words into his chest.

James hadn’t been sleeping well for the past two days, the nightmares coming back like an old unwanted friend after months of being away. They’d temporarily left his damaged mind when you started sleeping next to him, and nothing tore at his heart more than the first night when he woke up shouting, wild eyes searching the dark room and hands gripping the soaked sheets. Your concerned and scared eyes had calmed him, along with your soft whispered words of encouragement.

“ _James._..”The murmured whisper broke his thoughts and he shifted his eyes downwards, eyes tracking your parting lips and moving eyelids.

For a second he thought that maybe you had woken up, gently scolding him for still being awake, but it didn’t take him long to realize that you were still sleeping. And you had said his name, in your  _sleep. Were you dreaming of him?_

“James.”

There it was again. And it tugged at his heart strings, something stirring low in his belly at the soft sigh leaving your lips. He couldn’t help himself from tilting his chin down, plump lips finding your forehead as he pressed a chaste kiss to it. You were warm, warmer than he was, and it made him scoot impossibly closer to you.

The movement made your eyes flutter and he froze as he watched your eyelashes bat as you came to.

“Pet?” The term of endearment came easily and you smiled as you tilted your head up, bleary eyes taking in the man before you. “ _You said my name in your sleep_.”

His lips were set in a frown, probably scolding himself for waking you up, a soft wrinkle between his furrowed eyebrows and even though it was dark, you could easily make out the puffy skin beneath his eyes; Indicating that he hadn’t gone to sleep yet.

“I did?” You couldn’t remember what you’d been dreaming of, but judging by the warm feeling deep in your stomach, you knew it must’ve been about him. And it must’ve been good.

“Go back to sleep, pet.” He murmured as he watched you watch him, eyebrows slowly losing their furrow as his eyes softened a touch.

“I’d feel much better if you joined me in sleeping.” You whispered, giving him a barely there smile as you felt his fingers twitch where they lay comfortably on your back.

He merely grunted in response, contemplating whether he should decline or relent. Relenting would make you happy and have you falling back to sleep so he simply nodded.

You stretched your neck, kissing his jaw before nuzzling back into him. He listened to you sigh, burying his face in your locks and closing his eyes. Nightmares be damned. This is where he belonged.


	2. "please don't leave me" [alfie solomons]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sentence starter: "Please don't leave me."

Your heart was racing a mile a minute and you were pretty sure it would leave a dent in your ribcage by the steady  _thump_ it was doing. The streets were empty but then again, the pouring rain made it hard to see and you were too lost in your thoughts and focusing on just getting home that you barely paid any attention to your surroundings.

It was only when you’d closed the front door of your home behind you that you noticed how violently you were shaking, shivers racking your body as you let your soiled purse drop to the wooden floor. The sound of your own blood was rushing steadily in your ear, making it hard for you to hear anything but, eyes sweeping from left to right; Desperately trying to settle for anything familiar, anything that would bring you comfort.

But all you could think about was the man who’d grabbed you from behind, hand clamping over your painted lips as you screamed bloody murder when your brain registered what was happening. He’d hissed something in your ear that you couldn’t remember, but it had been terrifying enough in that moment for you to lash out and bite the palm of his grimy hand and twist away from his grip. You could still hear the way he’d crudely cussed at you and you could still feel your head pounding not just from the adrenaline but also from the way he’d gripped your hair to pull you back into his front.

It hadn’t gone too far, thankfully. But now… You looked down at your hands, trying to stop them from shaking as your eyes blurred with tears. The smell of blood was overwhelming and you had to swallow several times to keep the contents of your stomach down. You wrung your hands together, jumping when you heard a shuffle from somewhere down the hall.

“Pet?”

Just the sound of his voice had your tears streaming, bringing intense comfort and unexpected fear. You didn’t know how to talk, how to explain what had happened. How would Alfie react? Would he no longer want you? He’d always loved how pristine you were, how gentle your actions were and adored the kindness of your heart. The heart that he thought could do no damage.

You looked down at your hands, tacky with dried blood and you winced when you saw how it had gotten to your wedding ring too. There was blood on your hands now. Alfie would surely look at you differently, whether you liked it or not. And just the thought of that had a sob escaping your lips, just in time for you to look up and spot your husband huddling out of his office door.

“We need to fix the damn heating, right, I’m freezing my balls off.” He was grumbling, and it would’ve made you smile at any other time.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he looked up, and you could see the way his narrowed eyes widened at the sight of you. You had no idea what you looked like, but judging by the blood on your clothes, the bite marks littering your neck and your tear stained face; You were guessing it wasn’t looking too good.

You stood staring at him until your vision blurred with fresh tears.

“Alfie.” Your voice cracked and you let out an involuntary sob, soiled hand coming up to cover your mouth to prevent any more sounds from escaping.

“Who did this?” He couldn’t move. It was like he had been paralyzed, eyes sweeping left and right, up and down to assess the damage that had been done to you.

You couldn’t read him and that’s what terrified you the most. Your Alfie was always an expressive human being, whether he liked it or not. He’d always grunt his vexation and furrow his bushy eyebrows when he felt uncomfortable. He’d always mask his anger with laughter and his happiness by burrowing his bushy face in your neck.

In reality, Alfie was shaking. He was feeling all kinds of emotions running through him and it quite frankly had him feeling faint. Someone had  _hurt_ you, someone’d had the guts to lay their hands on you and he was going to absolutely kill that someone. With his own bare hands.

“Alfie, please…” You trailed off as you started crying, stepping forward twice before stopping; Despair overtaking your every sense. “Please, don’t leave me.”

That had him looking at you, fixing you with eyes that you now could see were burning with anger, anger for the one who did this to you and fear. Fear because he could see the life slipping out of you, see how this would scar you emotionally. The bastard had done his number on you physically, but he was afraid of this changing you for the worst. He was afraid.

“Leave you?” He was seething, gripping his cane in his right hand so hard he was sure it was about to snap. “I’m fucking angry, that’s what I am. I’m fucking  _livid,_ yeah, that someone would _dare_  to lay their manky hands on you.”

You watched him waddle over to you, letting the cane slip from his hands and clatter to the floor as his arms came up to embrace you. You fell into his warmth, choked up sobs bubbling from your throat as you wept.

“Who did this, pet? Did you get a look at his face?” Alfie was trying to sound comforting, but he couldn’t control the waves of anger radiating off of him.

You shook your head, no doubt staining his clothes with crimson.

“You don’t ‘ave to,” You sniffled, pulling your head back so you could blink up at him. “I killed him. I’m so sorry.”

Alfie shushed you, trying not to show how satisfied he was over the fact that the bastard was dead. Even though he’d have loved to track him down and make the knob head suffer while he lost limb after limb, courtesy of Alfie.

“Nothing to be sorry for, yeah?” He spoke gruffly, hand cradling the back of your head to pull it into his chest. You sniffled and it absolutely tore at his heart. “I’m here, darlin’.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Say hi to me on tumblr! - http://deartomhardy.tumblr.com

**Author's Note:**

> Say hi to me on tumblr! - http://deartomhardy.tumblr.com


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